Beneath new layers of clay on the tennis court at 1422 Pierce St. sits the history of thousands of footprints and imprints of tennis ball from decades of use by one of the city’s key civil rights pioneers.
Dr. Robert Walter Johnson, a Lynchburg physician, originally built a tennis court next to his home in 1941 to stay in shape.
“It was essential to have a court in your home because there were no country clubs that would allow access to African-Americans back in the day,” his grandson Lange Johnson said.
After becoming more involved with the sport, Robert Johnson noticed the lack of African-Americans involved at the professional level and wanted to institute change.
So he recruited young phenom Althea Gibson to train with him in 1946. Four years later, Gibson became the first black player to compete at the U.S. Nationals, which is the U.S. Open today. She won the tournament in 1957 after becoming the first black player to win Wimbledon that same year.
Johnson also went on to coach tennis legend Arthur Ashe from 1953 to 1960 as part of his junior development program, in which Johnson helped develop the skills of more than 100 young players over three decades.
Henry Kennedy played in the junior development program during the summer of 1965, as he was entering his senior year of high school. The education he gained during those balmy months has shaped his path ever since.
“I simply had an experience that I think affected the trajectory of my life,” he said. “I was privileged with lessons that were geared toward tennis but were transferrable to other phases of life generally.”
Kennedy went on to play tennis at Princeton University and earn a law degree from Harvard University before becoming a federal prosecutor and eventually a federal judge.
Johnson taught Kennedy there is no substitute for hard work, the importance of carrying oneself with dignity and to always represent his race well.
“Also, that more important than the will to win, itself a necessary ingredient for success, was the will to prepare to win and never let it be said that you cheated,” he added.
Lange Johnson echoed Kennedy’s sentiments about the significance of how his grandfather’s trainees conducted themselves and dressed because it was critical to whether others in the sport accepted them.
“He came up in a time where there was a lot of criticism and a lot of issues in terms of people trying to undermine African-Americans’ efforts in the sport and elsewhere, and he knew that in order to really compete and be able to participate effectively, we had to conduct ourselves above board,” Lange Johnson explained.
Robert Johnson also worked with local youth who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to play, introducing them to a sport they could carry on for a lifetime.
After Johnson died in 1971 at age 72, one of his nurses lived in the two-story home for more than 25 years, according to Lange Johnson.
The court was never used again. Eventually, the home, court and shed used for practice and storage fell into disrepair. Grass enveloped the court that had molded the future of so many young African-American players.
The property was left to Lange Johnson and his brothers, Bobby and Julian. Lange Johnson said the brothers “got the juices flowing” about restoring the property after the International Tennis Hall of Fame put Johnson on its in 2007 hall of fame ballot. Johnson was inducted to the hall of fame in 2009.
The brothers determined the best place to start with restoration of the property was the court.
“[It] really was the launching pad for so many different lives and careers that we felt like that was the first leg of the stool that needed to be completed, followed by the shed and then the home,” Lange Johnson said.
They worked with others who understood the importance of preserving Robert Johnson’s legacy and the history of the tennis court to establish the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation. Johnson’s nickname as a college football player was “Whirlwind” because of his speed.
In April 2017, the United States Tennis Association came down to Lynchburg and toured 1422 Pierce St. They immediately had a vision for restoring the court, Johnson said, and offered to donate all costs for the court renovations, which totaled $54,000. Another company, Musco Sports Lighting, donated $54,000 in new lighting for the court.
Renovations began last summer but hit a snag in the winter when the foundation learned the decades-old water pipe servicing the court couldn’t be used. Lange Johnson said they had to wait until this spring to install the new pipe, which pushed back the timeline for repair.
During the past two weeks, a team from Richmond-based Rennolds Tennis Court Construction Inc. has laid the final clay before installing the net and painting lines on the court.
The Whirlwind Johnson Foundation is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the court from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday. During the event, which is open to the public, several players will discuss their experiences with Robert Johnson before the foundation opens the court to all attendees who want to practice their backhand on the historic ground.
This fall, Lynchburg Parks and Recreation will use the tennis court for a pilot program with the Diamond Hill Recreation Center, according to Director Jennifer Jones. The department will offer free lessons from a certified tennis pro for children who attend the center.
“That tennis court was used to provide an opportunity for disadvantaged youth as well as youth who showed potential in tennis but didn’t have a place that was accessible to them. This [program] brings back the spirit of that tennis court,” Jones said. “[It] is perfect and very much in line with why the tennis court was originally built.”